1. Field
The present disclosure pertains to the field of information processing, and more particularly, to the field of platform virtualization.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, the concept of virtualization of resources in data processing apparatuses allows multiple instances of one or more operating systems (each, an “OS”) to run on a single data processing apparatus, even though each OS is designed to have complete, direct control over the apparatus and its resources. Virtualization is typically implemented by using software (e.g., a virtual machine monitor, or a “VMM”) to present to each OS a “virtual machine” (a “VM”) having virtual resources that the OS may completely and directly control, while the VMM maintains a system environment for implementing virtualization policies such as sharing and/or allocating the physical resources among the VMs (the “virtualization environment”). Each OS, and any other software, that runs on a VM is referred to as a “guest” or as “guest software,” while a “host” or “host software” is software, such as a VMM, that runs outside of the virtualization environment.
A processor in a data processing apparatus may support virtualization, for example, by operating in two modes—a “root” mode in which software runs directly on the hardware, outside of any virtualization environment, and a “non-root” mode in which software runs at its intended privilege level, but within a virtualization environment hosted by a VMM running in root mode. In the virtualization environment, certain events, operations, and situations, such as external interrupts or attempts to access privileged registers or resources, may be intercepted, i.e., cause the processor to exit the virtualization environment so that the VMM may operate, for example, to implement virtualization policies. The processor may support instructions for establishing, entering, exiting, and maintaining a virtualization environment, and may include register bits or other structures that indicate or control virtualization capabilities of the processor.